Humanitext Reader

Theophrastus · Fragments §170.1

The Property of Thapsia Root to Coagulate Meat

Passage 175 of 196 · Greek

Summary

Theophrastus describes in his treatise *On Plants* the peculiar property of the thapsia root, which, when boiled with meat, causes the pieces to fuse into one so that they cannot be removed from the vessel.

§170.1Fr. 170 Θ. δὲ ἐν τῇ περὶ τῶν φυτῶν πραγματείᾳ τὴν θαψίαν ῥίζαν ᾗ οἱ ἰατροὶ χρῶνται, ἐάν τις σὺν κρέασιν ἑψήσῃ, τὰ πολλὰ ἓν γίγνεσθαι ὥστε ἐκ τοῦ ἀγγείου μηκέτι δύνασθαι ἐξαιρεθῆναι.
On the other hand, Theophrastus, in his treatise *On Plants*, states that if one boils the thapsia root, which physicians use, together with meat, the many pieces become one, so that they can no longer be removed from the vessel.

Notes

  1. Fr. 170γίγνεσθαι — The governing verb of saying (such as φησίν, "he says") is omitted, and the infinitive γίγνεσθαι functions as part of an accusative-and-infinitive construction in indirect discourse. Its subject is the neuter plural phrase τὰ πολλά.
  2. Fr. 170τὴν θαψίαν ῥίζαν — An accusative phrase placed at the beginning of the sentence as a topic or prolepsis, functioning syntactically as the object of the transitive verb ἑψήσῃ in the conditional clause ἐάν τις...
  3. Fr. 170ὥστε ... δύνασθαι — In the result clause introduced by ὥστε, the infinitive δύνασθαι is used to express the natural or expected consequence ("so as to...", "with the result that...").

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §170.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:170.1

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